Deborah (Debbie) Lee’s induction in the Australian Football Hall of Fame was long overdue but still welcome.
Her long and illustrious career and accolades rival many of her peers, cutting across gender lines. The fact that she picked up the sport in a time when the world was not so encouraging to the idea of women playing footy is worthy of recognition.
Despite this, Debbie still managed to carve out a path that made it possible for a new breed of athletes to come up.
By opening doors for young girls as she championed for the inclusion of more women in the professional and semi-professional levels in the Victorian Women's Football League (VWFL) and Australian Football Leagues Women’s (AFLW), Debbie contributed a lot to what women’s football is today.
We know AFLW’s partnership with big brands like Toyota, Coca-Cola, and retailers like Coles have also helped the growth of the sport, but in this article, we want to acknowledge Debbie’s contribution.
Lee's story started in the Pascoe Valley backstreets where she used to play street football because it was an unpopular view to be a footballer at the time, and even worse, as a girl.
In addition to that, she comes from a family where she is the only girl.
Her two brothers Philip and Snap played footy but did not allow her to get onto a field under any circumstances. So she had to stick to the backstreets and every time a car drove past Debbie hid out of fear of being ridiculed.
Looking back, this foundation is what was instrumental in developing her character and strength which has translated into the way she plays and interacts on and off the field. She learned the hard way and scraped a lot of skin off her knees in the rough asphalt, which could also have contributed to the wear on her knee which she had to get operated on twice in her playing career.
Debbie’s building blocks in street footy are a big part of who she is now and in her own words: “Street footy moulded me into the footballer I am," as evidenced by her fire.
This showed in other areas of her life as at the tender age of 15, she was also recognised as a gifted player in the National Women's Basketball League.
She got a chance to play in 1991 when she responded to an advert by the East Brunswick Scorpions inviting all women to play, and then she was hooked. So much so that at the age of 19, she started her own team called Sunshine YCW.
She made footy her life and career on the field and was honored with the Helen Lambert Medal 5 times which is awarded for the best and fairest. She was also deemed an All-Australian six times.
Off the field, she became president of the VWFL which is a position she held between 2004 and 2012. While she was a player for a club she started herself and captained for 14 years, in 2017 she found herself as head of the Melbourne Football Club's AFL Women's operations.
A year later she took up the same role at Western Bulldogs where she was also appointed as the club's VFLW coach for the 2018 season and is now the General Manager.
Debbie’s story is an inspiration to many athletes, men, and women alike. Her induction into the Hall of fame sparks inspiration and hopefully, she is the first of many more to come.
